So you got yourself a new Nintendo Switch. You probably got yourself one of those must-have exclusives to get you started, like The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild, or Super Mario Odyssey, or one of the two Pokémon: Let’s Go games. You’re probably broke by this point. I don’t blame you. A new console is a significant investment. So here’s how you can spend more time playing games on your brand new console without spending a single cent. Here are best free games on the Nintendo Switch. Enjoy!

Fortnite

Of course Fortnite’s going to end up on this list. I ‘m no fan, I absolutely suck at this, and I have no desire to get better at this game, but Fortnite is the biggest game in the world, and it deserves a mention. So if you’re into that Battle Royale experience and would like to rack up V-Bucks and Victory Royales, go download this on the eShop right now.

Paladins

They say Paladins is the poor man’s Overwatch. Sure, it’s a hero-based shooter, and sharing many of the mechanics with Blizzard’s game. Honestly, I’ve never played Overwatch at all, so I can’t make any comparisons for now, but does it matter? It’s fun, challenging, and the lobbies are fully populated that we don’t have any problems jumping into a quick match.

Arena of Valor

Arena of Valor, even though it’s a port of a mobile game, plays incredibly well on the Switch. I haven’t sunk enough hours into this because I’m not a fan of MOBAs, and I can’t be half-assed to get better at them. But whenever I feel like I need to take a break from Dark Souls, I fire this up and play a few rounds and I find myself enjoying this.

Warframe

Free-to-play carries with it a certain kind of stigma in the eyes of gamers everywhere. I don’t blame them – a lot of mobile games are black holes of microtransactions, lootboxes, and other predatory practices. But a game being free doesn’t necessarily mean that it’s bad. Warframe is one such game.

Sure, it requires you to grind to be able to upgrade your character the way you want, and the loot drops rely heavily on RNG, but none of it feels oppressive that you’re compelled to just pay to get an unfair advantage.

And what’s amazing with Warframe is that it offers AAA-level graphics and gameplay, for free. Heck, not even Doom is as pretty as this on the Switch. It has five years’ worth of PVE content as well, so enjoy long hours parkouring in space, Tenno.

Oh yeah, you play space ninjas that parkour over everything. That should be enough for you to get this game.

Brawlhalla

if you’re tired of shooters and you want to get ready for Super Smash Bros Ultimate, Brawlhalla might be for you. It’s a platform fighter where you pick up weapons to beat the shit out of your opponents. You get a paltry amount of fighters at first though, and I haven’t played enough to see if I can earn in-game currency to unlock more.

But if you can’t afford Smash yet and you’re itching for the same sort of gameplay, Brawlhalla’s for you!

Notable Mentions

In case these games don’t quite tickle your fancy, you can also try Fallout Shelter. If you haven’t played it on your phone, you just run a vault in the Fallout universe and keep your inhabitants happy and well-fed and safe. I really think it’s better for the phone and it’s really not my thing.

If want to play Pokémon game but you don’t want to splurge for Let’s Go just yet, you can download Pokémon Quest. It’s nothing like a traditional Pokémon game, and the adorable monsters are turned into these cube things, but I lost a day playing this. It’s fun.

What about you? Do you play any free games on the Nintendo Switch that aren’t in this list? What else can you recommend new Switch owners? Leave your recommendations in the comments!